Vacation

I will be on vacation and out of country until October 26, 2007. During this time I will not be able to fill out the orders. My Internet access may also be limited. I apologize for any inconvenience it may cause. Please check back in early November. I am planning to add many new items at that time. Thank you.

Sculpted Vases

Next week I am going to Russia and later to Ukraine to visit my sister and parents. Here are a few presents I made for my relatives. To make these vases, I covered glass bases with polymer clay, added hand-sculpted polymer clay leaves and other patterns, antiqued, and adorned with fresh-water pearls, glass beads, amber, and semi-precious stones. These works were inspired by Christi Friesen from CFOriginals.com.

Caribbean Night – Polymer Clay Tile

What a wonderful idea! The Satin Cord people moved to a new studio and decided to embellish one of their tables with polymer clay tiles. Instead of making the tiles themselves, they invited other polymer clay artists to participate. They will be collecting the tiles until the end of the month. Click here to see the details.

And here is my contribution:

Polymer Clay - 100% Now!

So I did it! I am officially a freelance artist now. It is Monday, but I am sitting in my studio and actually working with clay – what can be better?!

Actually quitting my job was really difficult for some reason. It is the step I wanted to take for a long time, I planned for it, and yet closing my company’s door for the last time was almost a torture… I think it is the fear of the unknown. The change is just too drastic for me. Everything I did for the last 25 years was related to chemistry one way or another – I studied it in school, then at the university, I changed specializations, I switched from lab to teaching and back to the lab again, I progressed from a bench worker through a few levels of management, I worked for three different companies over the years, doing different projects – from sleeping aids to cancer drugs to military antidotes… But all of it was within the same field, and every next task was somehow related to my previous professional experience and knowledge. Now I suddenly abandon all of it and jump sideways, into a filed almost completely un-related to anything I have done before.

I think only a few (if any?) people in my office could understand and appreciate this step. I was told lots of good words at my last day, wished luck, etc., but I could see this question in people’s eyes. Why? Why am I leaving a well-paid job with full health benefits, good bonuses, and not too much travel? Some people have clearly decided that I’ve found one of those get-rich-quickly schemes and am planning to make big bucks with my jewelry and teaching activities (which is not true). Others decided that I must have hated my previous job (which is even further from truth). I think those who actually have creative hobbies themselves came closest to understanding my move. Truth is that I have a few notebooks full of sketches and ideas for my jewelry and sculptures, and never enough time to implement at least one tenths of them. Every time I read or hear about new business idea for my jewelry, I get excited much more then when I hear about new projects at work. I even caught myself looking at my co-worker’s tie at a meeting one day and thinking how to re-create this design in polymer clay…

I do not know, maybe I will indeed get tired of polymer clay in a year or two, as some people predict. For now, I just want to give it a try and see what happens…

Fire Mountain Catalog

A picture of my necklace with sculpted polymer clay orchids had been published in the recent edition of Fire Mountain Gems Catalog. I participated in their beading contest last year, and this necklace was a finalist. My other necklace, "Wild Rose", won the first place in the polymer clay category, but I have not seen its picture anywhere yet. I told my kids, the picture may appear either in one of the FMG catalogs, or on the back of beading- and jewelry-related magazines. Every time we come to a book or a craft store, the kids had been checking the backs of all these magazines for a few months now. It became a treasure hunt of sorts... They are still looking...

A bigger picture and description of the necklace is here: www.eugenascreations.com.

This Time For Sure!

I am leaving my scientific job to become a full-time artist after all – this time for sure! I was not able to do it this summer, but now all things are under control, and I am free to go! I have already turned in my resignation letter and know my last day – September, 13.

And here is some eye candy. This is my latest set, a combination of polymer clay faux cloisonné and Swarovsky crystals. It still needs a name, so any ideas are welcome.